UAE will not ask for Arab mediation to settle conflict with Iran

Well-informed sources in Abu Dhabi have asserted that none of the Arab states proposed to the UAE to mediate between it and Iran or to make any effort for "purifying the atmospheres with Tehran."

The sources denied reports that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa had proposed such mediation to his UAE counterpart, Rashed Abdullah al-Nueimi, in Cairo, where the two men took part in the ministerial council of the AL.

The sources told the London-based al-Hayat daily that the UAE will not accept any Arab mediation between it and Iran concerning the issue of the islands and that a request for such mediation will not be made.

However, an official UAE source stressed that all Arab states back the position advocated by the UAE to restore back its three islands of Greater Tanb, Lesser Tanb and Abu Mousa and that these Arab states voiced this backing during Arab meetings and decisions, either in the framework of the Damascus Declaration or in the AL.

Moreover, the UAE debated its position towards the three islands question before the 111th session of the AL council, which concluded its deliberations on Thursday, and reiterated its call on Iraq to have serious and clear negotiations to reach a peaceful solution or to resort to the International Court of Justice.